


Stare Down

by Winter_S_Jameson



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Family Bonding, Fluff, Gen, One Shot, silliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 13:44:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7936933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_S_Jameson/pseuds/Winter_S_Jameson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the longest moment, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock. The air was filled with a rising tension. The two opponents sat across the table from each other, their scowls deep and their eyes narrowed.</p>
<p>It was time to continue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stare Down

**Author's Note:**

> _This tiny piece of one-hour fluff came about because Jimmy Fallon and his staff come up with some pretty silly games to play with celebrities on The Tonight Show, and my muse can latch on to just about anything as inspiration._
> 
> _Enjoy! And feel free to let me know what you think!_

For the longest moment, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock. The air was filled with a rising tension. The two opponents sat across the table from each other, their scowls deep and their eyes narrowed.

It was time to continue.

Without shifting her gaze in the slightest, Mabel Pines drew in a deep breath through her nose and reached out with her right hand to grasp a target from the large mixing bowl that rested against the wall underneath the window. The left corner of her mouth twitched slightly upward. And in one swift motion she smashed what she held against her forehead.

She laughed when the crumbled remains fell onto the tabletop.

It was her opponent’s turn. He hadn’t flinched at the impact, hadn’t looked away or changed his expression. He simply reached into the bowl with his left hand and followed her example, crushing the thing on his forehead, and smiling a bit wickedly when he got the same result she had.

They snickered and realized the game would continue.

Mabel reached out again, but this time she hesitated for a brief moment before clasping her fingers around her prize. Subtly, she took another breath, and as she blew it out she snapped her arm toward her face with lightning speed, managing to hit the spot right between her eyes. She couldn’t help but blink; that one had stung a little bit.

But only solid pieces hit the table.

She may have just been imagining it, but she thought she could actually see him flinch a bit at that. It _had_ been a while since they started. But he gamely reached into the bowl again, and didn’t bother to hide his own deep breath during a slight pause. And then he brought his hand quickly back and made impact with his face just below his hairline.

They both jumped when the liquid splattered and started dripping onto the table.

Mabel stared at his face for a long silent moment, blinking furiously. Her eyes followed the trails of the viscous fluid being dragged down by the forces of gravity. Finally, she couldn’t fight what was bubbling inside her.

She burst out laughing, throwing herself back in her chair and nearly tipping it over.

“I’m sorry, Grunkle Ford, but I just can’t! You… your eyes… they’re so big… and it’s all over your cheeks… and it’s in your hair… and there’s a huge piece of yolk just _waiting_ to drip off your nose!” Mabel almost couldn’t breathe from her attempt to laugh and talk at the same time.

“Yes, well…” Ford said slowly, reaching up to wipe the raw egg from around his eyes and off his nose. “At least I can say none of it ended up in my _ear_.” He smiled with just a hint of wickedness. “There are still two more left, if I remember correctly. And it’s _your_ turn.”

“Do we want to know?” another voice said suddenly from the doorway to the Mystery Shack kitchen.

Mabel and Ford turned their heads to see Dipper and Stan standing there staring at them with confused expressions that were starting to lean toward weirded out.

The young woman grinned unabashedly while Ford fought back his own smile. “We were making hard boiled eggs three at a time because we couldn’t find a big enough pot for more and got bored,” she explained cheerfully. “So we decided to play Russian Roulette with Eggs instead!”

Two pairs of eyebrows went up. “So you’re deliberately smashing eggs in your faces?” Stan asked incredulously.

“Yep!” Mabel replied with an even bigger grin. “Whoever ends up smashing more raw eggs is the loser!”

“And it’s still your turn,” Ford said calmly, turning his attention back to her. “Don’t think you’re getting out of it.”

“Oh, no way, mister,” Mabel retorted with an evil laugh. “You’re going down!”

Dipper and Stan stood there for a few minutes more, watching their respective twins go back to their intense staring contest. Then they gave each other a look.

The corners of the teenage boy’s mouth finally began twitching upward. “I’m grabbing my video camera,” Dipper said in a low voice. “I can’t miss any more of this.”

Stan grinned. “I bet there’s money to be made here.” He made a shooing gesture. “Hurry up and get moving. Who knows when they’ll start being idiots again?”

Dipper choked back a laugh and ran for the attic. These were the memories worth capturing – because there was no way any of them ever wanted to forget this kind of happiness and bonding. Ever.


End file.
